Teen caught with child porn on nan’s computer

Published:14:24Tuesday 08 August 2017

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A would-be soldier has avoided jail despite downloading child pornography on his mum and grandmother’s computers.

Anthony Nightingale, 19, of Stanley Road in Platt Bridge, was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images and one charge of possessing extreme porn.

The teen was discovered to have 88 images of the most serious level of indecent images involving children along with more than 100 other examples of child pornography and 18 extreme pornographic pictures involving animals.

An investigation into the downloading of indecent images led police to computer addresses linked to two female names, Wigan magistrates were told during a hearing in June.

But Nightingale could be connected to both sites, which led to police executing a search warrant at his family home during which officers made the disturbing discovery.

Another stash of indecent images, including two serious child porn files and six extreme porn pictures, were discovered on his mobile phone, after it was confiscated for analysis.

Aspiring soldier, Nightingale is said to have co-operated with the police probe as he had made a successful application to join the Armed Forces and did not want to delay the recruitment process.

The perverted teen, who was made to sign the sex-offenders register 72 hours after his pre-sentence hearing at Wigan Magistrates’ Court, has been told he will remain on the list for five years. Nightingale has also been sentenced to a five-year sexual prevention order and a two-year community order. But he will retain the vast majority of his freedom after the judge decided not to hand down a custodial sentence.

Katie Beattie, who prosecuted during the hearing at magistrate’s court, said that when the police raid was conducted only Nightingale was present at the house as his mother and two younger siblings were away on holiday.

He reportedly volunteered a device which had not been discovered during the police search. The defendant, when interviewed by police, insisted he had no sexual interest in children but admitted he was interested in adult pornography, the court heard. Bob Topping, defending, said that his client had no previous criminal convictions and requested a pre-sentence report be prepared.

The sentence for possessing indecent images depends on the nature of the images themselves. Category A images, which are classed as the most serious, usually carries a custodial sentence starting at 26 weeks in prison and can go up to three years. The lowest category images can be punished with a medium level community order. Possession of images carries a lower sentence than the distribution or production of images, for which a conviction can carry up to nine years.